What the hell happened to this game... i played it at launch and it was half finished so i left. Are the American realms even open anymore?

Yup. The game is 100% F2P in NA and they've done a ton of work improving the leveling experience and adding in new content. The grind that existed at launch is almost entirely gone (though the pacing is still pretty meh) and overall the game is in a pretty awesome place.

Well, there was the lawsuit between NCsoft and Blue Hole (Tera devs) over the fact that a bunch of the Blue Hole founders supposedly ripped off assets/concepts/etc. from Lineage 3 and used them in Tera...so that may be it.

I played Aion at launch, while I liked it certain things did bug me and I didn't last long before going back to wow... I reinstalled it a few months back and couldn't log on, seems my NCsoft account doesn't exist any more =(

Am almost tempted to set up a new one and start over at some point though.

So I'm playing Aion again...

A buddy of mine talked me in to trying the new 4.0 patch. I've always had a strong love/hate relationship with Aion in that I love the style and the atmosphere, but hate the grinding and how overly Korean the game is in terms of RNG. But I've been bored, and it's free, so why not.

Now, about 20 hours of game-play later, I'm... having fun? In Aion. Is that even possible?

i was the same, mate. i liked playing aion, but similar to you i can only play for short spells before i get bored. i havnt played it for a few weeks now, simply because of that. if i have a break from wow, i tend to play neverwinter as i find that a pretty good game & its free to download & play.

Now you've made me click this thread and be tempted to try Aion again...
After spending last few days re downloading Rift, GW2, Secret World, Diablo 3, Tera and DCUO as I feel I'm missing something in my gaming life!
Really am seeking an alternative to WoW and really hoping a patch brings one of these games close to getting me addicted.

Friendship is like peeing on yourself, everyone can see it, but only you get to feel the warmth it brings.

Well I've really been enjoying Aion since I went back to it, tho I find the lack of guides a little bit annoying. Most of the guides I find seem to be super outdated, or just not really what I want...but I suspect I'm a little bit spoiled by WoW where you can find guides for every class advising on you the best stats and the rotations and such, heh.

I've not had the chance to play my Gunslinger as much as I'd like, but that because I'm leveling it with a friend, and they've been stuck on late shifts

So I started playing my 37 Sorc again, and I was worried I was gonna be stuck with just a bunch of repeatables in Eltnen, as I didn't really seem to have any quests in that zone or Resanta. I decided to try soloing some of the lower level campaign quests I'd put off, and I managed to complete a few, which encouraged me to keep playing. I then noticed that I had some campaign quests for Heiron, a zone I'd not quested in yet, and while the 1st area I came too had lower level quets, a later zone had quests at my level.

I was also encouraged when I realised, having managed to hit 38, that I qualifed for another solo dungeon. I was quited excited actually, as I remember the level 16-20 solo dungeon (I forget what its called) actually ahd quite a bit of loot that dropped from named mobs. It was kinda neat that I was playing the dungeon as Kromede, who I recalled from playing last year was the last boss of Fire Temple.

The 1st half was fun, but the 2nd half in the dungeon/mansion I found infuriating, as the mobs hit JUST hard enough my shield would never last until its cooldown had worn off, and I ended up dying a fair bit. Having to run through the entire dungeon was really aggravating. The only bit of loot I got was a blue quality helm and that was an extremely minor upgrade.

No other loot! Apparently the last boss has a CHANCE to drop a key for a weapon. I decided not to go back there, not yet anyway.

I've managed to get to 41, and if the game can keep up with enough quests that I can avoid having to just mob grin, I may end up hitting max level (I have a sneaking suspicion it won't tho )

I was leveling...athertapping I think its called? The gathering skill where you have to fly to nodes. I found that really silly, as I can fly for 2 minutes then had to land and wait before I could gather/level the skill more. I was working on alchemy for potions as I level, and I've gotten to the point where I needed the 100_ node crystals (I THINK(HOPE!) thats the skill level anyway)

So I've taken to leaving Aion logged in when I do chores at home. I either have my character do some work orders, or I do the fly gathering then wander off and do my chores while the toons crafts/recharges flight time. I kinda don't like HAVING to do this, but I also do want to continue leveling alchemy. I was doing cooking too, but the rate of skill ups is so slow, I'm not sure I can handle trying to level 2 professions.

The last annoyance was the chest I got from the "welcome to your house" quest expired while I wasn't playing, and the stuff in it is kind of in limbo until I re-buy the exact same type of chest (Or so I'm told on the Aion forums). But it seems the permanent version of that chest is 880k+ kinah, and I only have 5 million on my toon. Given how expensive stuff is, it seems a massive waste to get back some items I don't really need, just for a crappy ugly chest I don't need and don't want to display.
it still kind of annoys me though, that I see this "limbo gear" every time I open chest

You must show no mercy, Nor have any belief whatsoever in how others judge you: For your greatness will silence them all! -Warrior Wisdom

One thing that always put me off with Aion - why do all characters need to have a "wardrobe malfunction" when they die?

Like, I look at gameplay videos on Youtube - some guys dies. Kneels over. POOF! Suddenly their wings pop through their back. Wat?
PvP. Another guy dies. Bends over. SWOOP! There is another pair of wings!
Warrior turns around, smacks the next guy's head in. WHOOP! Out come the next wings!

Dunno if I'm picky, but I do find it weird when my character dies and all sorts of stuff would start going on with it. Like how male nightelfs on WoW serenade their surroundings while they die. The only theory I have is that the wings popping up are there to illustrate what happens with actual humans when they die and lose muscle control, especially when they haven't been on the bathroom recently.

On FF XIV, dying also hurts inside (so there's no need to do all kinds of things to rub the fact that you died in your face), especially because of how realistic the character's expression is, but at least they just fall over and don't have all sorts of stuff appearing on them a second later.

Half Life? You just go splat. Reload, done. Mario jumps off the screen. No need for an extended "you have just died! Whoop! Here come your wings!" scene.

Anyone still play this? I booted it back up last night because I am intrigued by the new Songweaver class. I had no clue I got such a chubby from killing people with music.... But as with many MMOs you start at launch and come back years later, I'm utterly overwhelmed by all the extras everywhere and the actual level of F2P in the game.

"Even better, if one of the reasons you left was the frustration involved in losing all your equipment's manastones when you failed to socket a final stone, you'll be even happier to learn that that particular mechanic is being removed from the game! That's right: Aion players will no longer risk losing already successfully socketed manastones when trying to put another one in (a much needed change that I championed years ago!).

“Snow can only live in the winter. When it nears a fire, it dies. That is its life. It may yearn for summer, but… it can only desire it. In my hand, the snow becomes water, because this is not its world….”

“The boundless Heavens and Earth are the final resting place of all living things. Life is like a journey, filled with various scenery, various paths.

Anyone know how to get that annoying NCsoft Launcher pop-up ... to stop popping-up on startup? I disable it in start-up prompt but it just recreates itself and pops up again when I turn my computer on.

Anyone know how to get that annoying NCsoft Launcher pop-up ... to stop popping-up on startup? I disable it in start-up prompt but it just recreates itself and pops up again when I turn my computer on.

Yea it does that i even uninstalled it and still does it think you have to go into your registry and delete it by using that not sure

“Snow can only live in the winter. When it nears a fire, it dies. That is its life. It may yearn for summer, but… it can only desire it. In my hand, the snow becomes water, because this is not its world….”

“The boundless Heavens and Earth are the final resting place of all living things. Life is like a journey, filled with various scenery, various paths.